Styled Gallery Wall with Vintage Family Photos

I rarely style vignettes or sets for myself (unless you count our home decor!)–I’m typically doing prop and set styling for my clients at photoshoots, weddings, music videos and the like. And it’s always great to collaborate with a client to bring their vision to life. But when I get to style something for myself, just for the joy of creating, it can be pretty special. On set a few months ago, I stole some time to create a styled gallery wall with some of my own vintage family photos, and Shelby Andal snapped some shots of the result.When I saw Shelby’s photos, I had one of the lump-in-my-throat moments. I typically keep these photos in boxes or albums, stored away safely to preserve my family history. But seeing all of those faces in shots arranged artfully–with bits of greenery and botanicals interspersed–I was overwhelmed. There was so much sweet history there, so many kind souls with so many stories. It felt like a celebration of them and those stories, especially with the photos of my father and both sets of grandparents, all of whom have passed. I just swoon every time I see the photo of my Oma, Allene, which she signed to my Opa Phil with love. It made me think: Why should do I keep these photos locked up tight? Seeing those photos along the clapboard walls felt like such an appropriate homage to loved ones. So I’ve decided to recreate this look in the old farmhouse I now share with my husband and our pups. Rather than framing them all, which feels a bit stiff for our rustic-modern decor, I’ll be recreating this gallery wall with a lots of painter’s tape (it holds great but won’t leave a trace if I’d like to rearrange them later) and a bit of washi tape for effect. Many of the photos I’ll be using are copies of the originals, so there’s no need to worry about dust or sun fading with time. Plus, we have lots of wall space to fill in the new farmhouse, where the ceilings tower over the ones we were accustomed to in our previous place, at 1920s cottage. Can’t wait to share the final results–now I just need to nab one of my photographer friends to photograph a house tour! – Elizabeth